China Un-Bans Facebook, Twitter in Shanghai

China is lifting its ban on a handful of heretofore banned websites within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

Included among those now considered acceptable are Facebook, Twitter and The New York Times' website.

The Shanghai Free Trade Zone, announced in July, has more free market-friendly policies than China at large. To that end, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone will entertain bids from foreign telecommunications companies to provide Internet services within the zone, sources told the South China Morning Post -- something that was impossible in the past.

The Shanghai zone is being treated as "a key proving ground for significant financial and economic reforms," the SCMP reported.

The decision to permit Facebook and Twitter within the special zone should not be mistaken as a sign that Beijing is knocking down its "Great Firewall," however. Earlier this month, China's Supreme Court announced
stiffer penalties
for people posting online rumors (and we're talking about the Communist Party's highly malleable definition of "rumor"). This decision has prompted popular social media personalities to
tamp down
their online musings.

Microsoft Teaming With Chinese Media Company

BesTV New Media, a Shanghai media company, announced Monday that it plans to embark on an entertainment development venture with Microsoft.

The duo, which together is investing US$237 million, plans to develop games and related services. This could be a way for Microsoft to sell its Xbox game console in China, which has long restricted video game consoles, The Seattle Times points out.

In a bulletin posted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, BesTV said that it will hold a 51 percent share in the company, and Microsoft 49 percent. BesTV will choose the company's board chairman, while Microsoft will tab the CEO.

The name of the venture is "E-Home Entertainment Development." It will be registered in the aforementioned Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

Xiaomi Drops Red Star From Marketing

Xiaomi, the Chinese phone maker that recently
hired
Google executive Huge Barra to head the company, appears to have dropped the red star from some of its marketing mascot's attire.

In the past, the company used a bunny mascot that wore an Ushanka (one of those furry Russian hats). The Ushanka featured a red, five-pointed star, which has long been linked to Communism.

The star, though, may have been erased.

Tech In Asia spotted a star-less hat on Xiaomi's Taiwanese Facebook page. The star is also absent on materials for Miliao, Xiaomi's messaging app.

The bunny still has his red star in some images, including at least one with traditional Chinese writing, suggesting that the company could be tailoring the bunny's garb depending on where an ad is placed.

BlackBerry Going Private

BlackBerry has agreed to a $4.7 billion deal to go private.

The $9-per-share offer, made by a consortium led by the company's biggest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings, comes after BlackBerry's August announcement that it was mulling going private while it searches for a way to survive in the smartphone world that seems to have passed it by.